The Babysitter
by Quiffin
Summary: Bombalurina is stuck taking care of the kittens. Will she be able to take care of them, or will they drive her to her limit? Not to mention her boyfriend Tugger has been acting strange the past week. Let's hope she can make it until Jenny returns!
1. Chapter 1

Most Jellicles lived relatively simple and peaceful lives day-to-day in the Junkyard. Afternoon naps, cushy nests, full bellies, endless freetime... But that's only most. There are a few Jellicles who worked harder than you might have thought.

One of these cats would be Jennyanydots, the caretaker and almost slave of the kittens in the tribe.

"I want creme!"

"Can you re-brush my headfur? Etcetera messed it up!"

"Pouncival took my toy mouse!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did no-"

"Quiet!" Jenny yelled, silencing the group with a wave of her hands.

"I'm so tired of your constant bickering! Could you manage to get along for more than five minutes?" She huffed, running a hand down her face.

"Hey, it's not my fault! Pounce is the one-" Tumblebrutus began, but was cut off when Jenny placed a paw over his mouth.

"Zip it." She growled.

"But-!"

"Zip. It."

Tumble grumbled under his breath and crossed his arms, and Pouncival stuck his little pink tongue out at him.

Jenny looked around the chaotic room with a mournful sigh. Her once pristine den was a total mess. There was trash and toys strewn everywhere, left over mouse on the walls, even some ripped up paper all over the ground. It was going to take forever and a day to clean all of it up.

"Alright, kittens. Could you start cleaning this up, please?" She asked tiredly.

"But I don' wannaaa!" Poincival whined.

"Yeah! Isn't it your job to clean up?" Etcetera pointed out.

"You're the adult!"

"You're violating child labour laws!"

"Most of this isn't even ours!"

Jenny groaned in frustration and collapsed into her comfy chair, covering her ears. Was there no end to this torment? Could she not get one second of relaxation?

The there was a knocking at the door.

"Uncle Skimble!" Came excited squeals.

"Hello ya li'l rascals." he laughed as all the kittens came to hug him before walking over to his mate.

"Good evenin', darlin." He said, giving her a quick peck.

"Hello, dear." She said halfheartedly.

"News from the station today." He said, taking off his waistcoat.

"Oh?"

"Aye. I'm tuh be off to the northern part of the northern hemisphere tumorrow afternoon. I'm going to be gone for a little while longer than usual."

"Well you'll be missed, as always." She said with a half smile.

"Aye, I suppose so. But I'm sure you can handle the kittens by yourself for a little while."

The thought of doing anymore extra work was nearly enough to make her cry from stress. What, did they think she was some kind of work mule to just do their bidding? A doormat to wipe their feet on?

"So, deary. What's for dinner?" Skimble asked.

Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't gotten any sleep for four days, or the screaming kittens in the back ground, or even the smell of mouse that had gone bad lingering behind her, but something in her snapped.

"That's it!" She screamed, startling the other cats in the room. "That's the last straw! I'm done!"

"What do yah mean, Darlin'?" Skimbleshanks asked worriedly, trying to hug her. She swatted his hands away.

"All of you just take me for granted! I'm just a big pushover, aren't I? Well not anymore!" She growled, then stomped out of the den angrily, leaving a very confused Skimble and a handful of frightened kittens.

Bombalurina, who had been sitting peacefully on the big tire was unfortunate enough to be the first cat Jenny came upon. She noticed her anger, and was instant concerned. Jenny was not one to get angry easily.

"Are you alright, Jenny?" She asked tentatively.

"No! I am most certainly not alright!

Everyone in this Junkyard takes me for granted!" Jenny hissed.

"But Jenny- everyone loves you! We're all very glad you are so great with the kittens."

"But no one respects me! They think my job is easy!"

Bombalurina scoffed. "Well, I mean how hard can taking care of four little kittens really be?"

If it was possible for Jenny to get anymore furious, she would have exploded. Bombalurina realized her mistake too late.

"Oh, so it's so easy to take care of kittens, is it? Wonderful! Then _you_ can take care of them while _I_ take a vacation." Jenny huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and stomping away.

"No! Wait- Jenny!" Bombalurina called after her in dismay. She couldn't take care of four kittens! She had no idea where to even start.

Skimbleshanks ran up to her, worry etched on his face.

"Which way did she go?" He panted.

Bomblurina pointed behind her.

"I 'ave tuh go see if I can convince her to come bachk. You watch the kittens."

"But I don't-" Bombalurina started, but he was already gone.

* * *

**Poor Bombalurina! Will she be able to take care of the kittens? Or will she fail miserably?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry my chapter are so shot right now. They'll get longer as I write further in the story. Also, sorry it's taking so long! I've got a crazy hectic schedule and I'm simultaneously working things out with "We've Only Just Begun," (the sequel to my first CATS fanfiction, in case you didn't know.) But shameless plugging aside, let's get on with the next chapter!**

* * *

As soon as Bombalurina entered the den, she was slammed with questions.

"Where's Miss Jenny?"

"Where's Uncle Skimble?"

"Can I have some mouse cakes?"

"How are you going to take care of us?"

"Do you know how to fix this?"

"I want Jenny back!"

Bombalurina rubbed her temples. It'd been five minutes and they were already giving her a headache. "One at a time, please!"

Etcetera stepped forward. "Where did Jenny go?"

"She's... taking a spontaneous vacation."

"What does sponatanus mean?" Tumblebrutus asked.

Bombalurina thought for a moment. "It's kind of like a surprise." She decided. Tumble nodded, satisfied.

"Why did Miss Jenny put you in charge?" Electra said quietly.

Bombalurina opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. Then, after thinking for a second;

"I have no idea."

The kittens all shrugged or nodded, accepting her honesty.

"What do we do now?" Jemima squeaked.

"Well, what do you usually do at this time of night?"

"We just finished dinner, so it's time for b-"

"Play time!" Etcetera yelled, cutting off little Jemima.

"Nuh-uh! It's b-"

Electra quickly covered Jemima's mouth with her paw and smiled up at Bombalurina sweetly. Bombalurina looked between the three Queens, with a raised eyebrow.

"What were you saying Jemima?"

"Mff mmn brmm!" Jemima said, her voice muffled by Electra's paw. Bombalurina gave her a stern look, and she back away sheepishly.

"It's time for bed!" Jemima exclaimed, sticking her tongue out at her two friends. Bombalurina nodded. "Thank you for being honest, Jemima. Now what do you usually to get ready?"

Jemima opened her mouth to reply once again, but she was, for the third time, cut off, this time by Pouncival.

"Allow me to illuminate." He said, puffing out his chest. "By the way, my name is Pouncival. Hi." Then he proceeded to give his best suave smile, and even winked at Bombalurina.

"Hi, Pouncival." Bombalurina said with a raised eyebrow and a stifled grin.

"You, my dear lady, may call me Pounce." He purred, the proceed to kiss her paw. If she didn't know better, she'd say this kitten was flirting with her.

"Okay, Pounce. What is your bed time routine?"

"Well, we usually get a bath, but only every other night, and we had one last night, so no bath tonight. Then Jenny usually reads us a story before we go to sleep."

"Alright, what story?" Bombalurina asked. Pouncival shrugged.

"I dunno. Just a story. Sometimes she comes up with new ones."

"Hmm... Okay, I'll see what I can do."

The kittens squealed excitedly and scurried over to the big cushion in the corner of the den, squirming eagerly. Bombalurina sighed and made her way over to the cushion and sat down, wondering what on earth she has gotten herself into. Pressing her full lips into a thin line, she did her best to think up a decent plot. What were the kind of stories that Jenny told her when she was a kitten?

"Uhm... Once upon a time... there was a, uh, beautiful princess." The young queen's ears perked up.

"This... beautiful... Siamese princess was... Stuck in a tower, yah. And she could... spin wheat into gold thread. But an evil Pollicle watched over her day and night, taking most of it."

The kittens gasped in horror.

"And the Siamese princess was very sad. Then one day a handsome tabby knight came to her tower. She tried to climb down with a gold rope she made, but he dropped her, uh..." Bombalurina frowned in concentration. Then she brightened. "She dropped her glass slipper! And she couldn't go walking around the enchanted forrest without shoes, so she has to get a new pair from the Pollicle and wait another day. The next day she decided to take her spindle with her but when she went to grab it, she pricked her finger. Then she slept for 100 years. The end."

The kittens applauded her, and she took a short bow. "Okay, now. Off to bed kiddies."

With reluctant groans the kittens situated them selfs in their little nests.

"What about you?" Pouncival asked. "Where are you gunna sleep?"

Bombalurina thought for a moment. "Well, I guess I can't go back to my den and leave you all alone." She looked in the back of the den where Jenny and Skimble slept. "But I don't really want to sleep in their bed without permission."

She bit her lip and wracked her brain. She hadn't really thought this far ahead. Then, another idea struck her. "Pack up, kits. We're gonna go on a field trip."

Jemima rubbed her eyes sleepily. "Where are we going?"

"You're going to crash at my place until Jenny gets back. Sound good to you guys?"

"Are we all gunna fit?" Tumblebrutus asked suspiciously.

"Well, Deme and I used to share, so I've got a bit of extra room. The Queens can sleep in her old nest, and I'm sure I've got a few extra blankets the Toms can use."

The kittens chattered excitedly, wide awake with the prospect of a sleep-over. Jenny rarely ever let the kittens stay somewhere over night. They all grabbed what they needed, mainly collars and a mouse toy or two, then lined up by the door.

"Everyone ready? Alright, let's go."


End file.
